Rose Bowl Parade--Pasadena, California 1956

Robert Frank captured this image, "Rose Bowl Parade--Pasadena, California," in black and white, using a gelatin silver print. The greyscale gives it a stark, documentary feel, right? Like a moment ripped from a newsreel, or maybe a memory struggling to hold its shape. The texture is amazing, isn't it? The way the light catches on the faces in the crowd. Some are sharp, others blurred, like trying to focus on a dream. Look at the guys perched on that pole. The way they cling, a human ladder, desperate to see over the crowd. That kind of sums it all up for me: the yearning, the struggle, the crazy stuff we do to catch a glimpse of something special. Frank, like Garry Winogrand, loved the drama of everyday life. He wasn't afraid of the grit, the messiness, the chaos. And it's in that chaos that we often find the real beauty, don't you think?